Seven additional workers on the new Bay Bridge say they were demoted, reassigned or fired when they questioned construction work quality and costs on the new Bay Bridge, according to a report released Thursday by the state Senate Transportation Committee.

The report echoes and expands criticism contained in a committee report published in January that concluded Caltrans squelched dissent about the structural safety of the new $6.4 billion span between Oakland and Yerba Island. Two persons were cited in the earlier report, including a Caltrans engineer who said he was reassigned when he voiced concern about the project.

Caltrans workers and contractors say they suffered job repercussions when they voiced concern about quality and costs on the new Bay Bridge. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group Archives)

The new report is the latest to raise concerns about the quality of construction in the new bridge span, which has been plagued by snapped bolts, water leaks and cost overruns. Caltrans says it has corrected problems as they arose and insists the bridge is perfectly safe.

According to the latest report, nine people have said they suffered job repercussions, of which eight are Caltrans employees or contractors. The ninth is an expert hired by the bridge contractor to monitor the quality of bridge sections being welded in China.

Advertisement

"When silencing people didn't seem sufficient, it appears those top managers ultimately punished dissidents by either dissolving their contracts or transferring them to other assignments," says the report written for the transportation committee by Roland De Wolk, a former investigative news reporter. "At least nine top bridge engineers, scientists, and other distinguished bridge construction experts who worked on the project have similar stories of being gagged and banished."

The California Highway Patrol launched an investigation in response to the earlier allegations. That report is not expected for weeks.

State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, the transportation committee chairman, said the new information provides strong evidence that retaliation occurred. The committee plans to hold a hearing on the report Tuesday, he said.

"The question remains: Why would these people make this up?" said DeSaulnier.

While he believes the bridge is safe, DeSaulnier said he thinks the poor quality control will lead to higher maintenance costs, picked up motorists who pay bridge tolls.

He said he will push for lawmakers to set up a new state solicitor general's office to monitor Caltrans projects.

Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty said no Caltrans employees were fired and he personally was not aware of retaliation. However, the alleged incidents took place before he became Caltrans chief in 2011, he said.

"I take retaliation very seriously," he said. "If I found out there was retaliation, I absolutely would be against it."

Dougherty said he saw nothing in the new report to change his conclusion, or that of outside experts, that the bridge is structurally sound, and that welding and other construction problems were fixed.

Among the problems were the 32 large bridge rods, installed in seismic stabilizers on the span, that snapped when tightened. Saddles, a form of giant braces, were installed to fortify them.

Randy Rentschler, spokesman for the Bay Area Toll Authority, said Thursday that his agency and Caltrans realized there were problems with the welds and ordered repairs and greater oversight.

Independent testing

The new report, however, recommends that "a truly independent party -- accompanied by credible critics -- perform a definitive testing of the welds."

In the report, Nathan Lindell, the quality control expert sent to China, said he was disturbed by the quality of work by Chinese welders assembling bridge parts in Shanghai.

In emails contained in the report, Lindell wrote that he also was concerned about the lack of procedures and records to track the welds.

"I have never worked on a project that is this messed up so early in the process," Lindell wrote. "I don't think anyone understands how hard this project is going to be."

For his complaints, Lindell said, the prime contractor of the east span -- American Bridge-Fluor -- shifted him from quality management to "paperwork" and then failed to renew his contract in 2009, according to the report.

Keith Devonport, an employee of a Caltrans contractor, also said he was transferred to an office job with nothing to do after his bosses told him that top bridge managers believed he complained too much about cracks in the bridge deck and the tower for the self anchored suspension plan. Frustrated, he quit, the report said.

Also on Thursday, an outside peer review team hired by the committee concluded that Caltrans used "appropriate" design criteria for the bridge to withstand earthquakes.

The committee, however, also concluded the many construction problems "point to a lack of robust construction quality assurance programs."